If you didn't have a Citroen?

[citroenxm]

No Russ, the HP 14 smaller box's seem to be better and live longer. They are still 4 speed though. Also fitted to the BX, 405, 305, 309, ZX, Xantia and 306....

I think the car was Both 3 and 5 dr from the off. Im just NOT a fan of 3dr. At all..

Jim...

RE: Autos. The 1.6 in the 205 was ALWAYS a Carb, but the Gentry Auto WAS the 1.9 GTi engine. Thats when it got Injection auto..

[citroenxm]

Carb Only.. So to make room for the carb and air cleaner the centre of the bonnet was lifted.

And those bonnets are in great demand by the GTi lads....

I may well be wrong Paul but I' have a feeling the later autos were injection but they kept the distinctive bulge...

Still with a 4 speed box.. A very nice car! Even Id love one of those!

The good old 4HP14 married to an XU5 engine...

One of my nephews still has an auto. Been off the road for yonks and is little more than scrap now. I'm sure it's an injection though... LU2 Jetronic like the 1.6 GTi...

The Auto only got injection in the Gentry Auto....

ALL the 1.6 Auto cars remained with a Carb..

[russ92xmsed]

Cool. Even better.....

[casalingua]

This has turned into a bit of an orgy of Peugeot praise. Is it me or do any of their current cars warrant such fond regard? I think not. The last nice Peugeot was the 607. And sorry to anyone who admires later Peugeots.
One of the dream garage lists had a 505 listed in series 2 form. Why? What makes up for the horrible S2 dashboard?
And the 305 is a very smart little saloon. One was offered on mobile.de for €900 in October with automatic transmission, one owner and 60,000 km on the clock. Various reasons stopped me buying it and I regret it. It's an under-rated car and let's remember that it was a cut above Fords and Vauxhalls. You can't say that now. You could say Kia is a cut above Peugeot these days.

[casalingua]

Dream garage:
Museum standard XM V6 Si with Diravi and no wood inside it
1979 Peugeot 604 with EFI, tan leather interior and black hard trim
Bristol 411 or 600 series
1979 Citroen CX Pallas
1990 Buick Riviera
1988 Cadillac coupe de ville
1968 Lancia Flavia saloon
1965 Lancia Fulvia saloon
1995 Lancia Kappa coupe 2 litre turbo
1982 Lancia Trevi 2.0 manual
1986 Renault 25 LWB 3.0 V6
1994 Bentley Continental
1975 Bentley T-type
1990 Daimler Sovereign V12

These are what pop into my head without too much reflection. I don't want pretend I have immaculate good taste by trawling for obscure cars. I could add a DS and a Fiat 130 saloon and a Ford Granada 2.8 Ghia X and an Opel Monza 3.0 to the list too.

I've revised my list. I visited Coventry in 2010 and was shocked to find Ryton was a levelled sprawl of crushed brick. Meanwhile up in Sunderland Nissan churns out hundreds of thousands of cars. Just ten years ago I recall they could not make enough 206s the demand was so high. What went wrong?

[CitroJim]

I won't even attempt to make a dream garage

Just ten years ago I recall they could not make enough 206s the demand was so high. What went wrong?

I used to go past Ryton frequently and I was moved to tears when I saw it closed and then levelled

Fact is Peugeot, from their high in the early 90s just lost the plot. The 206 was a good little car but it was no 205 though. My daughter had one for several years and I used to have the occasional fun blast in it.

I knew Peugeot had lost it when I first drove a 207. Just after they were introduced I got hold of one as a hire car for a couple of days. Perhaps my anticipation was too high but my disappointment was intense. It was utter rubbish...

I've had the same thought about the 307 as well - what a pile of junk...

The 406 I thought was a lardy old bus that handles like an overstuffed sofa and not a patch on the 405. The 406 Coupé is a gorgeous looker but has little talent in the suspension department. It really should have been hydropneumatic.

I love Peugeots of the era when the lion was going from strength to strength and 405s were driving through fields of blazing corn...

Funny you should say Nissan. Daughter drives a Nissan Pixo. Hideous car but it does the job, is totally reliable, frugal, £20 per year road tax, drives like a wooden brick and screwed together like a tank. Has absolutely zero character or redeeming features. People love 'em though I guess for just that reason. They're sliver, bland and don't challenge you to think - automotive white goods that does what it says on the tin but as dull as ditch-water.

Sadly, it's what people want these days...

[casalingua]

I know how you feel about Ryton. Having lived in Coventry I found the people there really decent. They and the workers of Ryton were let down by mediocre products. They didn't deserve that at all. The 206 and 307 were unremarkable but a few inexpensive chassis changes could have made the difference. But Peugeot was chasing VW "maturity" without offering the perceived quality or design integrity.
The 406 is a bit heavy. My father in law has one and I've driven it. It is rather nice to drive and well designed so I can't quite agree with you. It's the in-house 407 that disappoints. I dislike the interior and exterior equally and the daft window line means you can bang your head when getting into the driver's seat.
Overall Peugeot offer neither solid conservatism of their old school cars nor the brio of the 80s cars. I like to argue that, in isolation, the 205 was good but it led PSA to misplace the Peugeot brand down market from where they should have been. Remember that in the 70s there were two prestigious European brands, Mercedes and BMW. Audi's accession to that level was not a given and had the 604 succeeded it could be Peugeot not Audi in the trio of "prestige" cars. As it stands Opel are, in quality and styling and dymamics, where Peugeot should be (if not profitability). I wouldn't mind an Insignia or Astra saloon but would never consider a Peugeot.

[CitroJim]

My view of the 406 is from doing a direct comparison with an equivalent Xantia. The Xantia wins hands-down in every department except one... and that's reliability. The 406 is as reliable as the day is long and will take a huge amount of abuse with no complaint. I know that for a fact... Something a Xantia generally won't and I know that for a fact too The 406 is basically a very simple and straightforward car and well screwed together. I'm incredibly sensitive to how cars handle and ride and that's mostly why I drive hydraulic Citroens. The 406 feel and handling didn't inspire nor agree with me. Just a personal thing...

I have no experience of the 407 at all. It never seemed to be popular and faded from the scene very quietly and as far as I can see, not replaced...

[robert_e_smart]

The 508 has replaced the 407, and to some degree the 607. The 407 is very popular over here, loads of them about. They seem to wear better than the same age C5s.

I drove a 406 once and was a passenger in one a lot when I was younger, they were really nice cars, I liked them. The 307 is dreadful, what were they thinking of when they replaced the 306 with that.

[casalingua]

I can see your point about the 406 being less pleasant to drive than the Xantia. I was considering it more in isolation. The 406 seems to hold up better than the 407; the 7s seem To look tatty around the window rubbers, for example. The main weak point on the C5 mk1 is the side window rubber which detaches and curls at the B-C pillar. I haven't seen a really rusty one yet.